Burnley 0-1 Arsenal: Player Ratings As The Gunners Leave It Late At Turf Moor

Burnley and Arsenal played out the final game of this Premier League weekend, although many were left wishing they hadn’t bothered.

Both sides hit the woodwork late on in the second half, but the deadlock was finally broken with the last kick of the game, as Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain’s shot was bundled over the line by Laurent Koscielny.

In truth, the result was especially harsh on Burnley, who had defended excellently throughout. However, Arsenal get the three points from Turf Moor and move in to second place in the Premier League table.

Burnley Player Ratings

Tom Heaton – 7: Commanding performance from Heaton, dealt with the Arsenal attacks well and could do nothing about the goal.

Matt Lowton – 6: Lowton can count himself lucky that Alex Iwobi had a rare off-day, nonetheless he put in a solid performance.

Michael Keane – 8: Was unlucky a) not to score, and b) to be on the losing side. Keane put in a terrific performance and Burnley might just add a few million to his transfer value now.

Ben Mee – 7: Solid next to Keane in defence but his passing was slightly erratic at times.

Stephen Ward – 6.5: Rarely lost his position, and coped well with the pacey threat of Walcott throughout.

Johann Berg Gudmundsson – 6.5: Tidy, if not spectacular, performance from the Icelandic international. Was pegged back more than he would have liked.

Jeff Hendrick – 7: Good display from Hendrick today, both in terms of physicality and passing. Looks like he was well worth the club record fee.

Dean Marney – 6: Protected the defence very well, making more interceptions than any other player on the pitch.

Steven Defour – 6: Lasted around an hour, and while Defour looked strong in the first half, he began to fade in a big way in the second.

George Boyd – 6: Looked dangerous out wide and was a constant presence, but the end product wasn’t really on point for Boyd today.

Sam Vokes – 5.5: Missed a glorious opportunity to put Burnley ahead in the first half, the effort was there from Vokes but he was left slightly isolated at times.

Subs:

Scott Arfield(Defour 62) – 6: Replaced Defour for the last half hour, and while he was a better shield for the defence better than the Belgian, Arfield found the pace of the game difficult to deal with at times.

Arsenal Player Ratings

Petr Cech – 6.5: Largely untested, as Burnley only had one shot on target (which Cech dealt with very well). However, his passing and distribution could have been better.

Héctor Bellerín – 7: Generally a threat (as always) down the right flank, Bellerín however wasn’t as creative as we have come to expect of the Spaniard.

Shkodran Mustafi – 8.5: A commanding performance from the £35m man. Mustafi has settled into this defence impeccably and kept Sam Vokes very quiet.

Laurent Koscielny – 7.5: The matchwinner in the end, Koscielny was upstaged by Mustafi here but that shouldn’t draw too much attention from what was another very assured performance.

Nacho Monreal – 6: Had a similar sort of performance to Bellerín, in so far as he was always available for a pass out wide but was lacking in end product.

Granit Xhaka – 6.5: Not quite as involved as he could have been, Xhaka started in place of the injured Francis Coquelin today but didn’t really do enough to nail down the position here.

Santi Cazorla – 7: Had more touches of the ball than anyone else and a pass success rate of 98%. Cazorla is pulling the strings in this team and although he tired towards the end, the 31-year-old put in a classy performance.

Theo Walcott – 6.5: Had more shots than any other player, but Walcott’s accuracy deserted him here today. Not a bad display as such, but not great either.

Mesut Özil – 5.5: After last week’s brilliant performance, Özil will be disappointed that his display today was nowhere near that level. His passing and control just deserted him.

Alex Iwobi – 5.5: Iwobi struggled on the left wing today. One bad performance shouldn’t be enough for him to lose his place, but Iwobi will be very aware how strong competition for places is at the Emirates.

Alexis Sánchez – 7: Was a danger for the Burnley defence without really being overly threatening. Unlucky to see an effort clip the post, but this was a performance notable for Sánchez’s resilience more than anything else.

Subs:

Mohamed Elneny (Xhaka 71) – 6.5: Only got twenty minutes, but Elneny worked had and kept the midfield ticking over when Cazorla tired.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Iwobi 71) – 6: Lively performance from the England international but not enough to dislodge either Iwobi or Walcott in the starting eleven.